Dirty Boys Composting

Get Dirty Have Fun

About Us

Grant Berman started setting up compost bins in Newton during his sophomore year in high school. Now in its fourth year of business, Grant has expanded Dirty Boys Composting to other towns, and has a blast teaching people about best backyard composting practices, while improving the environment and spending time outdoors. Grant, now a student at Middlebury College, has installed and maintains over 250 backyard compost piles, which are diverting 1000's of pounds of compostable trash per year from the waste stream. Grant thinks this is only the beginning of what’s possible, and is continuing to expand Dirty Boys Composting throughout Massachusetts. Contact Dirty Boys Composting to see whether they service your town!

Services

Dirty Boys Composting will quickly get your household compost pile up and running, so you can immediately be part of the movement to reduce waste and improve our environment.

FAQ

What is Composting?

Composting is the planned, accelerated decomposition of kitchen and yard wastes.
Composting creates "black gold," compost, a rich, organic matter which can improve
the health and productivity of garden soil.

Why Compost?

Composting is a simple way to drastically reduce your household’s garbage output. The
average Newton household produces 650 lbs of food and yard waste every year. 75%
of this garbage is buried in our landfills, and, there, produces toxic by-products which
contaminate the earth. Home-based composting removes food and yard waste from our
dumps, and turns it into top grade fertilizer which beautifies our yards and helps preserve
the earth.

How long does it take?

A pile that is carefully managed for all the right conditions (such as moisture, the
optimal mix of carbon and nitrogen), and turned every week or every other week,
can compost in one to two months. Compost piles that are not maintained will
take longer to break down.

What can I do with my compost?

Once your "black gold" is ready, it can be used as a fertilizer before planting, to
add nutrients into your garden beds. Or,use compost as a mulch around existing
plants, trees and shrubs. By steeping compost in water, you can also make a
"tea" for spraying on house and garden plants.

Do compost piles smell?

When compost piles are properly balanced, they should not smell. Ideally,
compost piles should have a carbon: nitrogen ratio of 20:1 - 40:1, the piles
should be kept damp but not over soaked, and kept oxygenated.

Will my compost pile attract animals?

Care must be used in building and maintaining compost piles to keep them pest
free. It is important to keep meat, bones, fish, fat, poultry, and dairy out of the
compost pile because they attract animals. Fresh food scraps should be buried
in the "hot" center of the compost pile, and covered, where they will quickly
degrade. Finally, compost piles should be kept in a sturdy container. Follow
these guidelines, and your compost pile will be pest free.

What happens to the compost pile in the winter?

Even if your pile freezes completely, it’s still possible to continue composting
in the winter. It is helpful to chop your kitchen scraps into very small pieces to
speed up the process, since the bacteria in your compost don’t work as quickly in
the cold weather.

What items can and can't be composted?

Many items that would normally go into the trash or down the disposal can
actually be composted. Download a list of what to compost here

Grant Berman, of Dirty Boys Composting in Newton, talks about the different stages of composting during the annual Earth Day festival on the Town Common in Natick on Sunday. Daily News and Wicked Local Photo/Dan Holmes